Boys basketball: St. Joseph's Prep 52, William Tennent 48

Christopher BaileyCorrespondent

Sunday

Dec 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMDec 29, 2013 at 11:51 PM

CHESTER — Though coaches and scouts may use showcases to identify individual players they hope can compete at the next level, William Tennent reminded everyone that basketball is still a team game despite falling to undefeated St. Joseph's Prep 52-48 in the Ninth Annual Jameer and Pete Nelson Scholastic Play-By-Play Holiday Classic.

The Hawks got out to a fast start in Widener University's Schwartz Athletic Center, grabbing a six-point lead late in the first quarter behind junior guard and team game MVP Chris Clover, who finished with 28 points.

"He's a good player, we knew he was going to be hard to guard, our coach prepared us for him," Tennent senior Cory Hamlet said.

The strategy devised by Tennent head coach Robert Mulville and his staff worked at times, just not often enough.

"We wanted to make sure where (Clover) and (Tom Fox, 13 points) were at all times, give our big guys help in the box and keep them outside the lane from penetrating," Mulville said. "(Clover's) a good player, even when we did that he was still able to penetrate."

Tennent captain Matt Alden recorded six points in the first to keep the Panthers (3-4 overall) within striking distance.

"Teams go on runs, we had ours and they had theirs," Alden said. "That's what kept us in the game and that's what kept them in the game, but they had the edge."

The defense stepped up in the second quarter, as did forwards Hamlet and John Ryan, who combined for 15 of Tennent's 17 second-quarter points to give the Panthers a 30-26 lead going into the locker room.

"I felt good out there, I felt like I couldn't miss." Ryan said. "It's exciting, I want to play in this (environment) all the time."

Mulville praised the efforts of Ryan, a sophomore who has already made his presence felt this season.

"The thing that stood out right away from the beginning was his aggressiveness in getting to the basket," Mulville said. "He's not playing like a sophomore, he's playing like a guy who's a seasoned veteran."

After the half, Clover continued to demonstrate his hot hand just as the Tennent offense turned cold. The Hawks (8-0) scored 15 unanswered points in the third to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter.

"We had to adjust and we had to run some plays where we were able to get our guys open," Mulville said. "They made that adjustment and stuck with it instead of letting the train go off the rails."

That focus got Tennent right back into it. Picking up the mantle, seniors Alden and Ian Drumm hit back-to-back field goals to bring Tennent to within four with five and a half minutes remaining. Alden (the Panthers' game MVP), who scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the fourth, brought Tennent to within three twice more, but that was as close as the Panthers would get.

St. Joe Prep, held to just a single fourth-quarter field goal, made the most of its opportunities at the stripe, sinking seven of eight free-throw attempts down the stretch.

"Having the crowd behind us got the adrenaline going," Hamlet said of Tennent's closing run.

Tennent looks to rebound from the loss when it travels to Neshaminy on Friday for a Suburban One League National Conference contest, and Mullville likes the direction he sees his squad going.

"We had three good days of practice where we were really trying to get our offense down where it was a little bit sharper and it showed tonight," Mulville said. "I think we were able to give ourselves a couple more scoring opportunities because we were running the plays correctly and finding the open guys."